Updated August 9th 2026!
We are a group of gardeners and plant lovers who meet monthly to talk about gardening. We also share plants, seeds and cuttings, and learn from horticultural guest presenters. Most of our meetings are free and open to the public--please join us!
We are on our annual "summer break". Our next meeting will be September 14th at the Center for Spiritual Living, 14 Hillary Lane, right here in Chico. We will have social time from 11:30-12:00, our Speaker from 12:00-1:00 p.m., then our Business Meeting from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Stay for whichever portion you'd like.
Please welcome our new Board of Directors for the '26-'27 club year.
Their installation was facilitated by Carol Jauregui, Director of the Buttes District of the California Garden Clubs Incorporated (third from left).
This year's Board of Directors included, left to right: Jessica Beattie (Director), Krista Weber (Secretary), Sally Miller (front, Vice President, Acting President), Tony Berkhoudt (rear, Director & Co-Treasurer), and Candice Boggs (Co-Treasurer). Not pictured: Maureen O'Reilly (Membership) and Diane Bryant (Director).
We would not have a club without people volunteering to fill these roles. Thank you, Board of Directors! 👏
PHOTO OF THE SUMMER:
August gardening activities
Fertilize citrus for the final time this year
Start seedlings of autumn vegetables indoors: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and lettuce.
Direct-seed carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips in the garden
Plant potatoes
Trim back bearded iris foliage to around six inches (if you like) to keep them tidy.
Dig up and divide clumps of bearded iris that have become crowded and aren't flowering as much. Discard old, tired growth and re-plant the vigorous growing ends of the rhizomes. Trim back foliage to reduce shock
Spray off aphids and spidermites in the garden with a strong jet of water
Pick off and discard (or relocate to another solanum type plant) the large, green caterpillars of tomato hornworms (chickens enjoy eating them).
Keep harvesting tomatoes, beans, squash, peppers, and eggplants to keep plants producing
Fertilize flowers and flowering container plants with bloom-boost fertilizer. Deadhead annual and perennial flowers to encourage new blooms
Cover tomato plants (their fruits, especially) if temps are above 100° F for more than a day. Use at least 50% shade 🍅
Fertilize camellias with a fertilizer for acid-loving plants (azaleas, camelias, gardenias, etc). This will get them in good shape to flower this winter and grow next spring.
Summertime is the right time of year to re-pot most cacti, palm trees and succulents (except Aeoniums, which prefer it in winter) 🌵
Fertilize your houseplants as they are growing during the long, warm days of summer
Like oleander plants? Now is a great time to propagate them via stem cuttings rooted in water
Raise your mower height to cut your lawn. The taller grass shades the grass and helps it save water/deal with heat better
Plant seeds of biennials to have small plants by autumn that will flower next year (forget-me-nots, evening primroses (Oenothera), foxgloves, hollyhocks, Canterbury bells, lunaria, etc)
Fertilize summer annuals and vegetables
Once you've harvested the berries, cut back the canes that bore fruit on your berry plants. They're done bearing and its good to make room for this year's growth.
Trim off faded rose flowers by cutting down to a five-leaflet leaf that points outside away from the center of the plant at the height you'd like new flowers to emerge
Weed, weed, weed! 🌱 🤏
Order spring bulbs (planted in autumn) now for a good selection 🌷
Photo courtesy of member Dan C
Beautiful downtown Chico, California
Fresh tomatoes from a member's garden.
Butterfly bushes (Buddleia sp.), Rudbeckia, canna lilies and zinnias in a member's summer garden.
Club members at one of several "potting parties" to prepare plants for our fund-raising spring Plant Sale
